


gloxinias and retail

by aeltaiir



Series: gloxinias and dichotomies [1]
Category: Daredevil (TV), Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), Spider-Man - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Flower Shop, Flowers, Gen, Identity Reveal, Language of Flowers, M/M, Secret Identity, Teen Peter Parker, more like peter has a part time job at one
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-19
Updated: 2020-07-19
Packaged: 2021-03-04 20:28:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,825
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25372390
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aeltaiir/pseuds/aeltaiir
Summary: “What’s that one mean?” the man asks, when Peter gets to the gloxinias.“Uh, love at first sight,”“How about some of those,” and Peter wasn’t sure if he was joking or not but his lip was twitching so he would assume so. He added them.It is a bit of an odd bundle but the man liked the meanings and Peter thinks that for him the meanings probably matter more than the looks.---Peter works part-time at a flower shop. This blind man keeps coming in to get flowers for his boyfriend (?). Spiderman is just very tired and Daredevil is as brooding as ever.
Relationships: Matt Murdock/Franklin "Foggy" Nelson
Series: gloxinias and dichotomies [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1838455
Comments: 17
Kudos: 237





	gloxinias and retail

**Author's Note:**

  * Translation into Русский available: [gloxinias and retail](https://archiveofourown.org/works/25823872) by [Norgen](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Norgen/pseuds/Norgen)



> Disclaimer: I do not own the characters nor the universe and ideas and I make no money off of this.

Vigilante work is expensive, something that Peter really did not anticipate. Sure, he has accounted for the danger and how much time it would consume, still more than he expects it to, and the worry that would come along with it. Expenses though? They hadn’t crossed his mind. Turns out first aid equipment isn’t free and very much a necessity. That and the caffeine. So much caffeine. Peter counts it as first aid by now.

Mr. Stark would pay for everything and more if Peter asked him, he knows that. But Peter has never been a beggar and isn’t going to start now. So, he does the normal thing and gets a job.

It’s a nice little shop, in Peter’s opinion, a small little flower shop. The owner only needed someone to tend it when they were away so it works out well. It’s not exactly the emptiest shop, especially when Peter is there, but he makes good money and has enough time to do homework behind the counter on most days so it works.

Keeps him busy though, between it, homework, patrols, and Stark internship he doesn’t have much free time, but hey, that’s life, he supposes.

He tries to keep it separate from the others, especially Spiderman, which is already confusing enough that he really doesn’t need to add a flower shop to the mix. Not even Mr. Stark knows about it, or at least, Peter thinks he doesn’t. Wouldn’t be surprised if Tony stuck a tracker on him one of these days.

Still. He does his best to keep it separate and still get to everything on time, which he is actually pretty good at, he thinks to himself, dragging a bag of soil across the shop, looking up as the bell on the door rings.

“Welcome, I’ll be there in two seconds,” he calls from the back. “Sorry, about that, what can I get for you?” he asks, walking back to the counter only to look up and oh. He’s blind. Okay.

“I’m looking to get a bouquet?” the man asks.

“Sure, what’s the occasion?” Peter asks

“A date,”

Peter nods before, right, blind, saying okay.

Normally this would be when he asks what in the shop looks good to them but he isn’t sure exactly what to do for this case.

“Any idea of what you want?”

“Something romantic?” the man asks again, with a wince.

Okay. Peter can work with that, so he starts talking about their pre-done sets before the man interrupts them.

“I wanna get something meaningful,” he says, and aw that’s sweet.

“Okay, well you can always go with their meanings,” Peter suggests because he is a romantic at heart and when he first found out about the language of flowers he was hooked.

“Meanings?” he asks.

“Yeah, like, the flower language. They each have meanings,” he explains and the man looks interested so he continues. “Not many people use it for just regular bunches but I think it’s interesting so maybe you could do something like that? Like, a red rose means more of like love or respect but an orange one is joy and friendship but an orange lily means hatred so,” he starts, before stopping before he gets too far into it.

“That sounds good,” the man answers, with a small smile, one that Peter returns as he goes and grabs the catalog. 

After a lot of explanations and quite a few descriptions of what different flower species look like, they decide on a nice bunch of daisies, gloxinias, and red carnations.

“What’s that one mean?” the man asked when Peter got to the gloxinias.

“Uh, love at first sight,”

“How about some of those,” and Peter wasn’t sure if he was joking or not but his lip was twitching so he would assume so. He added them.

It is a bit of an odd bundle but the man liked the meanings and Peter thinks that for him the meanings probably matter more than the looks.

He wished the man well and led him out with his flowers.

\---

On a normal night, Peter gets out of the shop and goes home, does the rest of his homework, showers, grabs something to eat, and then goes out for patrols. Lately, he’s been hanging around the Kitchen more, teaming with Daredevil a lot and Deadpool sometimes.

Speak of the Devil, Peter thinks, seeing the man jump to the rooftop he’s on.

“Hey DD,” Peter greets. “You missed it, Wade and I busted a giant organized ring last night,” he shares because DD normally likes to be caught up on these types of things. “Well, more Wade but I helped web them up. He did a lot of killing. You should have been there, totally your type of thing,”

Daredevil would have been great if he was there. The man can be terrifying when he wants to be. There is a reason why they call him the Devil of Hell’s Kitchen. He growled at Peter the first few times they met and even after that he wasn’t exactly sunshine and flowers.

“Was busy, but sounds great kid,”

\---

The flower shop delivers, something that Peter loves doing. For one, it lets him get out and about. That’s really the only reason but its an important one, so.

This time, someone had ordered flowers for some lawyers, as a thank you. And so, Peter is sent all the way to Hell’s Kitchen, which is a bit of a ways but is fine. He doesn’t have to walk there and even going up the stairs. Well, superstrength comes in handy even when he’s out of the suit, so the big flower bunch is no problem.

“Hi, I have flowers for Mr. Nelson and Mr. Murdock,” he says when the door swings open, not being able to see who is behind it due to the flowers.

“Oh, come in,”

Peter nods and walks in, putting the flowers down where the man points to and, wow kid those are heavy how were you carrying those?

“I’m stronger than I look,”

Peter hands over the clipboard, “sign here please,” when someone comes in from the other office.

“Oh, Matt look, the family from the last case sent us a thank you,”

Matt?

“Oh, hey! Hi again,” he greets because maybe other customers he wouldn’t recognize, but he doesn’t really get that many blind guys.

“This is flower kid?”

Flower kid?

“Nice to see you again, Peter,” Mr. Murdock, (Matt?), says, coming over to examine at the flowers.

“Matt here tried to explain the flowers that you gave him,” Mr. Nelson says, looking up from the card that came with the bundle. “But forgot most of them,” and Peter realizes who they were for.

“Hey, I remembered the important one,” Mr. Murdock defends.

“Yes, yes, love at first sight, very good Matty,” Mr. Nelson placates and pats Matt’s arm idly, ignoring the other man’s pout.

“These have meanings, kid?” Mr. Murdock asks and yes, they do!

Dark pink roses, hydrangeas, and heathers, all meaning different variations of thankfulness or admiration. And some larkspur, which means fickleness, that Peter tells them he just put in for a filler. They laugh and as Peter is leaving hears them say Karen will probably like them.

Well, that’s nice. Wouldn’t have pegged Mr. Murdock as a lawyer but it makes sense. He seems like the type.

\---

That night, Peter is on patrol. It’s a Wednesday, meaning he leaves the shop a little later than the other days, but he still tries to be out and swinging by eight. There isn’t much crime at that time so he normally takes homework with him and webs it up when it gets later, around nine or ten.

On school nights he tries to be home by 1 am. DD tells him it’s good. That he is young and needs to sleep at least some and, come on, school starts at what? Six for you?

It’s eight but he goes home early anyway.

Daredevil is one of the few vigilantes who knows Peter is still in school. Tells him it’s a miracle he even lets him go out, and Peter doesn’t point out he doesn’t really let him do anything and simply nods. He thinks DD is projecting but lets it be.

He hears him mutter sometimes. Something about reckless kids or whatever. Peter nods again and lets him gripe like the old man he is.

Peter is late that night. Well, not late. Almost, more like.

“Sorry DD, got caught up,”

Even though Daredevil did know the most about him, compared to the others in the vigilante circle, Peter still doesn’t really talk about his personal life. He thinks the other is the same way which is cool. It’s an unspoken agreement.

The other man nods his understanding and then they’re off. Well, Peter is off - swinging. Daredevil is more just. Running and jumping.

I swear, and he calls me reckless, Peter thinks.

\---

Mr. Murdock comes back for more flowers just as Peter is getting settled for the start of his shift, popping his head up from behind the counter where he was putting his bag away, toeing the suit sticking out of it back in before greeting the man.

Peter hopes the flowers are for Mr. Nelson again. They’re like. A power couple or something. Matt gives off endearing sweetheart pure vibes. Kinda nerdy but like in a ruffled hair and soft sweaters vibe. Mr. Nelson gives off a more My Chemical Romance vibe. They go together. Maybe Mr. Murdock thinks so too, given as he came back for more flowers.

“What’s up, Peter,” Mr. Murdock says, walking over to the counter. 

“Not much, Mr. Murdock,”

The lawyer seems to pause for a second before telling him he wanted to get some more flowers. That shows care. Peter smiles and nods and takes out the catalog. Asks him what’s the occasion. Dinner, as it turns out. Very sweet, Peter decides.

Together, they decide on a sweet and happy bunch of white carnations, yellow roses, and orange stocks. Peter dutifully explains each of the meanings, of the sweet and loving carnations, friendship meaning roses, and joyful stocks. Mr. Murdock seems happy so Peter considers it a job well done.

\---

Peter is late again. Like, actually late this time.

It’s a Sunday and he promised to work a little longer because the owner’s cat got sick and the owner showed him a photo and well. Cat. He isn’t heartless like some.

He changes in an alley directly after he closes up the shop and webs up his stuff, not having time to go home or shower or anything, before he goes out to start the long swing to Hell’s Kitchen, he and Daredevil have been working together more lately.

Ah, there he is, Peter thinks as he swings down, sticking the landing because please. We’re professionals here.

Daredevil tilts his head at him and looks up from his perch on the ledge as Peter approaches.

“You good?” Peter mumbles because DD can honestly be scary at the best of times and he doesn’t want to overstep but this looks like extreme brooding.

He gets stared at for his efforts. It’s kinda creepy, Peter thinks, with the whole eyes on the mask and all. But the man nods. Well. Okay then.

\---

The phone is ringing.

“Hello?...Yes, this is us...oh, hi Mr. Nelson, what can I do for you?...Yep, we do deliver...Okay, sure, what’s the occasion?......Okay, that sounds good, I can do that, do you want to come in to choose?.....You sure?....Okay, well I can send a picture when I’m done if you want?....Okay, if you’re sure. Do you want a card with it?” He asks, mostly because he has too and also because maybe it’s for someone else. He laughs when Mr. Nelson says there wouldn’t be much of a use for one. “When do you want them delivered?.....Okay, is the daytime good?....Great. Do you have an address?” Peter asks as he grabs a piece of paper, phone between his head and shoulder. “Uh-huh….Got it, thank you…..Oh, yeah, you can pay online….Exactly, there….Yep, no problem….Okay, is that all?....Okay, thank you, Mr. Nelson…..You too...Bye,”

Okay then. Let’s make a bouquet.

Mr. Nelson only specified it should be sweet but not too sweet. And protective. Hm.

He ends up with arbutus, forget-me-nots, and achilleas, which he thinks make a good assortment of gentle love and protection.

\---

Peter recognizes the building. It’s one that he and Double D often use as a vantage point if they’re in the kitchen. Oftentimes Peter starts in Queen and ends up in the Kitchen or further up if it’s slow, most nights finding DD along the way. Never been inside though, he muses, as he climbs the stairs, flowers in tow.

He is expecting Mr. Murdock, given from what Mr. Nelson said, when he knocks and is unsurprised. Well, unsurprised to see him, kinda very surprised to see that he looks like he’s been beat up. Who the fuck beats up a blind pro bono, Peter looked him up, lawyer? Wow. People are kinda fucked up.

Mr. Murdock looks very confused when he says hi. Oh. Right. Blind.

“Hi, it’s Peter, from the flower shop? I have flowers for you,” he explains.

Mr. Murdock nods and reaches for them.

“They’re from Mr. Nelson,” he tells him and Mr. Murdock nods and smiles, murmuring a quiet thank you. Peter directs him to sign on the sheet, which is a little awkward but he scribbles something down for Peter, so it’s good.

“Have a good day, Mr. Murdock,” Peter says as the man says thanks again and goes back inside.

Hm. Well, that went well.

\---

That night, he ends up back on the roof of the same building, working on homework, when DD joins him, asking how it’s going tonight.

“Not bad, little slow,” he admits. “You sure you’re good to be out tonight?” he asks, eyeing the other man’s slight limp.

“Be fine,” comes the grunted reply, to which Peter shrugs. His funeral.

“Was just here,” he murmurs, as the silence stretches on, both of them in red sitting on the edge and watching.

“Here?”

“This building,”

DD doesn’t do much but hum and continue watching.

\---

It’s a slow day at the shop, which is actually pretty unusual. Surprisingly, a lot of people buy flowers. Mostly funerals, to be honest, but still. Regardless, Peter is pretty excited when someone actually comes in.

They want some flowers to show appreciation.

Peter asks who they want to appreciate.

“Daredevil,”

Sorry, what.

“He saved my life and, I don’t know, I wanna repay him,”

With flowers.

“Look, man, it sounded like a good idea at the time,”

Can you even get them to him?

“Don’t you guys deliver?”

Dude. Daredevil. _Dude._

“I’ll pay extra?”

Peter sighs and says it’s fine, he’ll see what he can do, and do you want to add a card too?

“Oh, yeah, yes please,” 

Right. Now. How the _fuck_ should he deliver this?

\---

Turns out, by lying.

“Here,” he says, pushing the flowers forward to Daredevil.

“What,”

“I don’t know man, someone was looking for Daredevil and wanted to give him flowers. Thank you or something. I said I’d get them to you,”

DD nods slowly and sniffs them.

“There’s a card too,”

Daredevil nods and opens it. Upside down. Okay.

“Who did you say got these?”

“I don’t know, some random dude who came by the shop,” Peter says as he flops down on the ledge because really can’t DD just accept the flowers and be done with it?

Silence.

“Peter?”

“Yes?” Peter sighs because honestly, at this point? He’s just tired.

More silence.

“Wait, fuck, no,”

DD nods.

“What,”

DD nods some more. Peter hates him sometimes.

“Uhhhhh,”

Daredevil shrugs and takes off his mask and huh.

“Mr. Murdock?”

“Matt,” Daredevil, or Matt, Peter supposes, says and shrugs again.

_What._

\---

Peter is pretty sure Mr. Murdock, or Matt, as he insists he be called, only buys flowers to mess with him.

They still discuss their meaning as, no, Peter, promise. Really am blind.

But, hey, Peter is happy to sell and Mr. Nelson is probably happy to receive so it’s all good.

Surprisingly, he and Matt got over the initial shock fairly quickly. Well, Matt did. Peter suspects he already kinda knew. Peter took a little longer but is fairly used to it now.

He asked if Mr. Nelson knows he does this.

“Foggy? Yeah, he knows,”

Oh, okay. Cool.

Yeah.

Now, the only real difference is that they sometimes perch on the flower shop instead. It’s good, Peter thinks, knowing a bit more about Matt. Makes him more human at least. Plus, going on top of the shop is good too. He can’t really be late now.

**Author's Note:**

> Was thinking of doing this again from Matt's view, would you guys like that ? (edit: i did it)
> 
> anyways, here are all the flowers i used and their meanings. some meanings change based on country and culture but here is what i found them to mean from when I looked them up.
> 
> Daisy - loyal love, innocence, purity  
> Carnation (red) - admiration, deep love, affection  
> Gloxinia - love at first sight  
> Roses (dark pink) - thankfulness, gratitude, appreciation  
> Hydrangea - thank you for understanding, appreciation, heartfelt emotion  
> Heather (lavender) - admiration, protection, solitude  
> Heather (white) - protection, wishes will come true  
> Larkspur (pink) - fickleness  
> Carnation (white) - sweet and lovely, pure love  
> Roses (yellow) - friendship, joy  
> Stock (orange) - joy  
> Arbutus - thee only do I love  
> Forget-me-not - memories, true love  
> Achillea - protection, against evil
> 
> hope you enjoyed this short little thing :) comments and the like keep me going and if you have any suggestions or requests for another fic I always love to hear them :)


End file.
